News
Update from Committee in Solidarity with Striking Workers at Northwest Airlines

The following message
from the Northwest Workers Solidarity Committee was posted on the Internet on
August 28, 2005.

Saturday morning’s Solidarity
Committee meeting was a significant success, bringing together nearly 50
activists from unions such as SEIU, AFSCME, the Teamsters, and CWA, as well as
community activists and members of the AMFA strike committee. After the meeting
we proceeded over to the AMFA solidarity rally, where several thousand gathered
to demand a fair resolution to the struggle and an end to Northwest’s union
busting tactics.

We raised $435 dollars at the
Solidarity Committee meeting, which we will immediately reinvest in a variety
of publicity materials, including “I Support Northwest Workers” T-shirts,
posters, and buttons. We will begin a visible, public show of solidarity to
counteract mainstream media and NWA-fueled misinformation that the strikers are
isolated and lacking support.

Several important action items and
dates came out of the meeting. They are as follows:

SCAB HOTEL LUNCH PICKET: Tuesday, August 30, at 11:30
am in front of the Radisson at the University, one of the central
facilities housing the scabs. Hosted by the U of M AFSCME locals. The
hotel is located on Washington
Avenue at the corner of Harvard Street in the heart of the
University [of Minnesota].
Parking is available both at the WeismannMuseum
ramp and in the remote lots near University
Avenue and Huron Blvd. The site is also widely
accessible by Metrotransit buses and trains. Visit
www.metrotransit.com for the quickest routing.

EXECUTIVE RESIDENCE PICKET and DEMONSTRATION: Help
show Northwest’s top corporate officers what we think of their union
busting tactics! Carry picket signs, raise your voice, and join in the
performance. Thursday, September 1, 3 pm.Meet at AMFA strike headquarters in the AmeriSuites parking lot on
the I-494 frontage road, just off the intersection of 34th Avenue and I-494 (the site of
the Saturday rally).This will be
THE event of the week!

LABOR DAY PICNIC LEAFLETING: Help us hand out
Solidarity Committee leaflets at the Labor Day picnic on HarrietIsland
in Saint Paul.
Help us educate and mobilize the labor community, and solicit further
donations and resources for the food bank and other material support for
the strikers. Place and exact time TBA shortly.

ADDITIONAL SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE DEMONSTRATION: A
group of activists is meeting to coordinate the logistics of another
solidarity committee demonstration, either at the airport or at one of the
scab hotels. Additional information will be available shortly.

FOODBANK FOR STRIKING WORKERS: Final preparations are
being made for the food bank for the striking workers. As soon as it is
operational, we will have leaflets and a strategy to solicit fund from
other unions, community events, and sympathetic workers at the airport and
other work sites. More information shortly on opportunities to help us do
outreach for the food bank. We are also opening a credit union account so
donations can be made directly to the Solidarity Committee and food bank.

PICKET HELP: Please help the strikers on the picket
line any time you have a chance.Shifts are available 24 hours per day, around the clock. Picket
shift changes are at 8 am, 12 noon, 4 pm, 8 pm, 12 midnight, and 4 am. However,
you may volunteer to picket for ANY amount of time, WHENEVER your schedule
permits. To picket, PROCEED TO AMFA STRIKE
HEADQUARTERS in the AmeriSuites parking lot on the I-494 frontage road
near 34th Avenue
in Bloomington.
You will be transported by the picket coordinators to an appropriate field
site. For security reasons, you must follow this procedure, rather than
simply showing up on the picket line.

PUBLICITY AND VISIBILITY: We have over 300 members on
the national solidarity statement with the AMFA strikers that is being
circulated by Peter Rachleff and other Solidarity Committee members. Once
the circulation is finished we will release this as part of a broader
press strategy that highlights the diversity of union and community
support that is rapidly expanding in response to the strike.

The next Northwest Workers
Solidarity Committee meeting will be next SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, at 10 am, at the office building at 8101 34th Avenue South
(same location as this week). Please attend to help carry all of these events
forward.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Please let us
know by replying to this address if you can help with some office work related
to managing data and information for the Solidarity Committee. With the rapid
growth of strike support, we will need many hands to help keep up with all the
work!